[ad_1]
By ANGELA OKETCH
More by this author
Somalia will launch a two-time national polio immunization campaign to administer oral monovalent type 2 vaccine.
The campaign aims to maintain immunity and protection against poliomyelitis in response to outbreaks of two strains of poliovirus currently circulating.
The first vaccination cycle will take place from June 23 to 26 and the second will take place from July 21 to 24 this year.
Campaigns target children from high-risk populations in 20 districts, mainly Somaliland and Puntland.
In March, the 3.1 million Somali children under the age of five were vaccinated against bivalent oral polio (Bopv), which protected them against type 1 and type 3 polioviruses.
The vaccination was carried out twice, the first in the districts of Sool, Nugal and Togdher, targeting 183,887 children. Of these, 175,905 were vaccinated and 10,675 were vaccinated for the first time.
During the second cycle from April to May in 39 high-risk districts, 1.52 million children were targeted, but vaccinators managed to reach 1.42 million, of whom 49,496 were vaccinated for the first time and 1,573 refusals were registered.
Despite campaigns and serious vaccinations, polio remains a threat to Somali children. This is a major obstacle to efforts to complete the polio eradication work in the country.
The WHO estimates that the Global Initiative for the Eradication of Polio has saved 10 million children from paralysis. According to the United Nations, business models estimate that the elimination of polio would save between $ 40 billion and $ 50 billion over the next 20 years after eradication.
Poliomyelitis, an infectious viral disease commonly known as polio, causes temporary or permanent paralysis.
The infection affects children and young adults. The virus enters the nervous system and infects the nerve cells that control the muscles, causing paralysis, often of the leg.
It is an incurable disease. In its most dangerous form, the polio virus attacks the brain and the respiratory system, creating complications that can sometimes lead to death.
The WHO said most developed countries were polio-free.
Only Africa and Asia are struggling to eradicate the disease, the 10 most affected countries being Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Israel, the United States. Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic.
In 2012, almost all polio cases were reported in endemic countries. Last year, outbreaks were reported in Somalia and Kenya. This has raised concerns about slow progress. Yet, enormous progress has been made in the years since the beginning of the eradication campaigns.
Somalia Federal Health Minister Fauziya Abikar Nur has called on all parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated.
In addition, the unregulated free movement of Somalis at the border with Kenya has major implications for public health and safety.
Source link
